Post Application Process and communication with applicants 

Support and reassurance for your Year 11 students

We will be reassuring students as much as we can over the coming weeks about the process of joining Blackpool Sixth in September and making sure that we support students in their decision making. 

Just as we did last year, we will be accepting students based on the grades they are awarded at the end of the year regardless of the fact that they haven’t taken external exams.

‘Interview’ process this year

As we are not able to carry out interviews in the usual way this year, we are reviewing each application as it comes in and contacting students by email or phone to discuss any issues and to share key information, advice and guidance.

Once we are happy that a student has received the appropriate advice and guidance we will send them a conditional offer.

Conditional offer – will be sent via email

Most of the students who have already applied to us will have been sent a conditional offer email.

Please can you remind students that they must check their emails regularly as this is the main way we can communicate essential information to them. It is a good idea for them to always check their spam/junk emails too as sometimes if we send out a mass email, it can end up there. 

Students without a conditional offer to date

For some applicants, further contact with them is needed before we can offer them a conditional place. 

This is because they have not provided any predicted grades and/or need advice about courses they have chosen. Applicants who have not yet received a conditional offer of a place have all received an email with advice about their application, explaining why we need to hear from them.

Communication with students this year

As regards our communication with students, we have a wealth of information, advice and guidance on our website and we continue to send lots of messages to students in order to keep them up to date with upcoming events and any key information they need.

For applicants we use the email address they have provided and for all students in general, we are very active on social media, particularly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Please let us know which social media platform your school prefers to use as we want to be able to like and share your posts.

Update on entry requirements

We do understand that the new lockdown and the recent announcement of the cancellation of the summer 2021 GCSE exams are bound to lead to some anxiety.  We want to reassure all students that we will continue to carry out our enrolment of students in the fairest and most supportive way possible to help ensure that no-one is disadvantaged. We expect the government soon to announce more details of how grades will be awarded. We will continue to work closely with schools in ensuring a smooth transition between school and college.  

Our general entry requirements and the specific ones we set for specific courses are all based on strong evidence about the minimum levels needed to succeed in those courses and study programmes.  We do not therefore plan to alter them. Our best advice to all Year 11 students is to focus on the remaining work in all their courses, as this will give them the best chance of obtaining the grades they need for their first choice of college courses.  We do offer a wide range of different courses and programmes with a range of entry requirements, so there are always a number of excellent alternatives in cases where students do not achieve all the grades they expected. Personal attention is given at enrolment to each student in order to find the best study programme for them. If you have any questions about this or anything else related to applying to Blackpool Sixth please contact us at admissions@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk